Sightseeing
Sick of the city's noise and congestion? Tired of the traffic? Or just tired? Hop on the big elegant IDO ferry from Yenikapı, for a short sail directly south across the Marmara, to the healing waters of a lovely spa known as Yalova.
For a quick getaway or a more extended adventure, the sybaritic pleasures of Termal (just outside Yalova) await you: a natural hot springs, a heated swimming pool, hamams, professional massages to eliminate your stress, in a beautiful pine forest setting with a refreshing and relaxing atmosphere. Only 1 1/2 hours away from Istanbul, it's an ideal "staycation" for which you can still get back to the big city in time for some nightlife or luxuriate in a hotel overnight for more of a vacation feeling.
History
Yalova, from the Greek words yalı (shore) and ova (plain), means "plain at the shore" and is the capital of the large province of the same name on the Eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. The first settlers came in 3000 BC, followed by the Hittites in 2000 BC, then the Phrygians, then the Romans by 74 BC. After the Byzantine Empire, Yalova became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1302. Atatürk lived there occasionally during his last few years. It suffered a devastating earthquake in 1999, killing over 17,000 people throughout the region.
But the name Yalova actually only refers to this port city and its province. The famous spa is in a little town a few kilometers away called Termal, where the "Termal Kaplıcaları" (thermal hot springs), surrounded by a few hotels, parks, and restaurants, welcome us with their soothing therapies. The kaplıcalar consist of a central banyo/outdoor pool for men and women with a men's hamam inside the same building, and a separate women's hamam a few meters away. Süleyman the Magnificent’s words are carved into a stone plaque on the wall: "For people the most respectable thing is the state itself, but it is nothing compared to a breath of health," is the translation.
Activities: Surprise Shopping Adventure
Disembarking onto the ordinary looking Anatolian town of Yalova, whose uninspired architecture spoke of quick reconstruction after the earthquake, my friends and I followed the crowds going three blocks to the right of the iskele led us to an unanticipated gold mine: a giant flea market, rivaling some of the famous ones in Paris. Our eyes glazed over as we wandered into an enormous covered bazaar, where hundreds of vendors had spread their wares on blankets and tables. Antiques, piles of clothing, jewelry by the bucket, furniture, stacks of old books, unique brass fixtures, sewing machines, and rugs were everywhere. We spotted an art deco vase hand-painted with Anatolian designs, unusual brass and copper bric-a-brac, hand embroidered felt wall hangings/bedspreads, and innumerable items of clothing and fabrics. We snatched up beautiful necklaces for 1-5 lira each, a brass paperweight for 5 lira, clothing items for 3 lira, and my prize bargain of the year: a beautiful room-sized rug for 30 lira.
This flea market happens only on Thursdays, from 7am to 7pm. And just across the street was a household goods store that sold collapsible shopping carts on wheels for 20 lira—to cart away our treasures. We also came across a designer outlet: Davut Jeans. This store, just a block away from the flea market and on way the back to the boat, is chock full of the Big Star brand and more. Room after room of jeans in every possible size, from floor to ceiling, and jackets for bargain prices! My friends scored a silk-lined designer jacket and beautifully styled jeans that fit like a dream, each for 30 lira.
The Spa Experience
If you don't go on a Thursday and/or skip the shopping, follow the crowds to the dolmuş stop, about four short blocks through the park to the right of the iskele. It's about a 15-minute ride to the last stop, Termal, where a giant welcome sign greets you. It's a lovely village with stunning specimens of hundreds of types of trees, predominantly firs. The picturesque open-air Sinema Cafe is in the middle, surrounded by little shops where you can buy snacks, skin creams, and shampoo. Across the road is the concession booth of a portrait artist who is eager to sketch your face: a caricature is 30 TL. Up the hill a bit is an information station, and thankfully its person on duty was cheerfully well informed. And the spa buildings post large and clear price lists (in Turkish). Here are the basic choices:
Kurşunlu Banyo/Pool House
Basic open pool (Açik Havuz) fee: 15 TL
Men's Sauna: 13 TL
Men's Massage: 20 TL
Sauna & Pool: 20 TL
Jacuzzi: 30 TL (one person); 40 TL (two people)
Children: 0-4 years, free; 5-7 years, 5 TL
Swimsuit (Mayo) rental: 1 TL
Valide Banyo (Women's)
One person: 7 TL (half-price on Tuesdays and Thursdays)
Child, 3-6 years: 3.50 TL
Scrub (Kese): 15 TL
Massage: 20 TL
Swimsuit (Mayo) rental: .50 kuruş
Sultan Banyo (Families)
Similar prices
Spa Protocol:
For the pool, a large white towel is provided and you can store your valuables in a lockbox. Plastic slippers are provided.
At the Valide Banyo, women are given two towels and a lockbox for valuables. Generally women wear underpants in the hamam and in the dressing room, although a towel wrapped around the lower torso is fine. Plastic slippers are provided.
The masseuse on this day was superb; she pummeled and stretched us, exclaiming things like "what's going on with your shoulders today? Too tight!" Then she'd karate-chop the deltoids until we were putty, our bodies and brains finally happy to be so unwound. The masseur, however, was evidently frustratingly incompetent, according to my male friend. So, warning—ask in advance for what you want. Also, they use soapy water instead of oil on the body.
Hotels
(0)226 675 74 00 is the telephone number for the two hotels and their restaurants: Çamlik Otel, Restaurant & Disco Bar, and Çinar Otel and Ortanca Pizza/Pide.
Çamlik Otel - 83 rooms total. Rooms in the back are 132 TL; rooms in front are 154 TL. Prices include breakfast and use of the pool.
Çinar Otel - 80 rooms total. Basic prices start at 132 TL; small suite is 176 TL; large suite is 240 TL. For one person, a room in the back is 92 TL and in the front is 110 TL. Prices include breakfast.
http://www.yalovatermal.com/tr/
and for discount deals - http://www.tatilbudur.com/kaplica_termal_otelleri/yalova_merkez_otelleri.html
Restaurants
(These places are all within a stone's throw of each other)
Ortanca Pizza/Pide
Çamlik Restaurant
Sinema Cafe (outdoor)
More Shopping
An elegant stairway to the right of the information booth leads to the Gökçedere Mahalle stores.
Getting There
IDO Ferry: 12 TL one way
https://online.ido.com.tr/irj/portal
last boat to Yalova 19:00; last boat back to Yenikapı 19:30
Yalova-Termal dolmuş: 2.25 one way
last dolmuş to iskele 23:00; last dolmuş to Yalova 24:00
Staycations- Yalova
Writer: Alexandra Ivanoff
Sick of the city's noise and congestion? Tired of the traffic? Or just tired? Hop on the big elegant IDO ferry from Yenikapı, for a short sail directly south across the Marmara, to the healing waters of a lovely spa known as Yalova.
For a quick getaway or a more extended adventure, the sybaritic pleasures of Termal (just outside Yalova) await you: a natural hot springs, a heated swimming pool, hamams, professional massages to eliminate your stress, in a beautiful pine forest setting with a refreshing and relaxing atmosphere. Only 1 1/2 hours away from Istanbul, it's an ideal "staycation" for which you can still get back to the big city in time for some nightlife or luxuriate in a hotel overnight for more of a vacation feeling.
History
Yalova, from the Greek words yalı (shore) and ova (plain), means "plain at the shore" and is the capital of the large province of the same name on the Eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. The first settlers came in 3000 BC, followed by the Hittites in 2000 BC, then the Phrygians, then the Romans by 74 BC. After the Byzantine Empire, Yalova became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1302. Atatürk lived there occasionally during his last few years. It suffered a devastating earthquake in 1999, killing over 17,000 people throughout the region.
But the name Yalova actually only refers to this port city and its province. The famous spa is in a little town a few kilometers away called Termal, where the "Termal Kaplıcaları" (thermal hot springs), surrounded by a few hotels, parks, and restaurants, welcome us with their soothing therapies. The kaplıcalar consist of a central banyo/outdoor pool for men and women with a men's hamam inside the same building, and a separate women's hamam a few meters away. Süleyman the Magnificent’s words are carved into a stone plaque on the wall: "For people the most respectable thing is the state itself, but it is nothing compared to a breath of health," is the translation.
Activities: Surprise Shopping Adventure
Disembarking onto the ordinary looking Anatolian town of Yalova, whose uninspired architecture spoke of quick reconstruction after the earthquake, my friends and I followed the crowds going three blocks to the right of the iskele led us to an unanticipated gold mine: a giant flea market, rivaling some of the famous ones in Paris. Our eyes glazed over as we wandered into an enormous covered bazaar, where hundreds of vendors had spread their wares on blankets and tables. Antiques, piles of clothing, jewelry by the bucket, furniture, stacks of old books, unique brass fixtures, sewing machines, and rugs were everywhere. We spotted an art deco vase hand-painted with Anatolian designs, unusual brass and copper bric-a-brac, hand embroidered felt wall hangings/bedspreads, and innumerable items of clothing and fabrics. We snatched up beautiful necklaces for 1-5 lira each, a brass paperweight for 5 lira, clothing items for 3 lira, and my prize bargain of the year: a beautiful room-sized rug for 30 lira.
This flea market happens only on Thursdays, from 7am to 7pm. And just across the street was a household goods store that sold collapsible shopping carts on wheels for 20 lira—to cart away our treasures. We also came across a designer outlet: Davut Jeans. This store, just a block away from the flea market and on way the back to the boat, is chock full of the Big Star brand and more. Room after room of jeans in every possible size, from floor to ceiling, and jackets for bargain prices! My friends scored a silk-lined designer jacket and beautifully styled jeans that fit like a dream, each for 30 lira.
The Spa Experience
If you don't go on a Thursday and/or skip the shopping, follow the crowds to the dolmuş stop, about four short blocks through the park to the right of the iskele. It's about a 15-minute ride to the last stop, Termal, where a giant welcome sign greets you. It's a lovely village with stunning specimens of hundreds of types of trees, predominantly firs. The picturesque open-air Sinema Cafe is in the middle, surrounded by little shops where you can buy snacks, skin creams, and shampoo. Across the road is the concession booth of a portrait artist who is eager to sketch your face: a caricature is 30 TL. Up the hill a bit is an information station, and thankfully its person on duty was cheerfully well informed. And the spa buildings post large and clear price lists (in Turkish). Here are the basic choices:
Kurşunlu Banyo/Pool House
Basic open pool (Açik Havuz) fee: 15 TL
Men's Sauna: 13 TL
Men's Massage: 20 TL
Sauna & Pool: 20 TL
Jacuzzi: 30 TL (one person); 40 TL (two people)
Children: 0-4 years, free; 5-7 years, 5 TL
Swimsuit (Mayo) rental: 1 TL
Valide Banyo (Women's)
One person: 7 TL (half-price on Tuesdays and Thursdays)
Child, 3-6 years: 3.50 TL
Scrub (Kese): 15 TL
Massage: 20 TL
Swimsuit (Mayo) rental: .50 kuruş
Sultan Banyo (Families)
Similar prices
Spa Protocol:
For the pool, a large white towel is provided and you can store your valuables in a lockbox. Plastic slippers are provided.
At the Valide Banyo, women are given two towels and a lockbox for valuables. Generally women wear underpants in the hamam and in the dressing room, although a towel wrapped around the lower torso is fine. Plastic slippers are provided.
The masseuse on this day was superb; she pummeled and stretched us, exclaiming things like "what's going on with your shoulders today? Too tight!" Then she'd karate-chop the deltoids until we were putty, our bodies and brains finally happy to be so unwound. The masseur, however, was evidently frustratingly incompetent, according to my male friend. So, warning—ask in advance for what you want. Also, they use soapy water instead of oil on the body.
Hotels
(0)226 675 74 00 is the telephone number for the two hotels and their restaurants: Çamlik Otel, Restaurant & Disco Bar, and Çinar Otel and Ortanca Pizza/Pide.
Çamlik Otel - 83 rooms total. Rooms in the back are 132 TL; rooms in front are 154 TL. Prices include breakfast and use of the pool.
Çinar Otel - 80 rooms total. Basic prices start at 132 TL; small suite is 176 TL; large suite is 240 TL. For one person, a room in the back is 92 TL and in the front is 110 TL. Prices include breakfast.
http://www.yalovatermal.com/tr/
and for discount deals - http://www.tatilbudur.com/kaplica_termal_otelleri/yalova_merkez_otelleri.html
Restaurants
(These places are all within a stone's throw of each other)
Ortanca Pizza/Pide
Çamlik Restaurant
Sinema Cafe (outdoor)
More Shopping
An elegant stairway to the right of the information booth leads to the Gökçedere Mahalle stores.
Getting There
IDO Ferry: 12 TL one way
https://online.ido.com.tr/irj/portal
last boat to Yalova 19:00; last boat back to Yenikapı 19:30
Yalova-Termal dolmuş: 2.25 one way
last dolmuş to iskele 23:00; last dolmuş to Yalova 24:00